Friday, June 21, 2013

Class Dojo

Class Dojo is something I was introduced to this year. As I said before, I had a REALLY difficult group of kiddos and I felt like my behavior chart just wasn't working. Some years the behavior chart is perfect and produces incredible classroom management. Other years, you need to up your game a little bit:)

I actually heard about Class Dojo from my mom who is also a teacher. Someone told her about it at a training, and she called me one night to let me know what she learned. She knew I was struggling with behavior and I needed something new. After listening and doing some research, I decided to IMMEDIATELY begin Class Dojo in my classroom. So, what is it you ask?

Class Dojo is an online FREE classroom behavior management system. It is based on a point system where students can earn 'positives' and 'negatives.' The amazing thing about it, is that YOU as the teacher can create your own rewards/consequences for students to earn. Below you can see what your class page will look like.

When I saw a student doing something great, I would let them know they could get a 'positive.' They simply walked up to the computer and gave themselves a point. Another GREAT thing is Class Dojo also has an App, so I could carry my iPad with me EVERYWHERE to let students know they were always earning positives and negatives. Parents can even download the app to their phones to see their child's behavior each day!

Another great thing about Class Dojo? It AUTOMATICALLY generates a behavior report that is sent to parent's email every Friday. I didn't have to do a thing. All of my parents participated, and I honestly saw a huge change in several of my kids. I know many of them appreciated getting a report to their email instead of signing a folder every night. If their child received more than 3 negatives in one day, I sent a note home.

You can create rewards and consequences for your kiddos based on their positives/negatives. I initially gave every student the same Avatar (or monster picture) next to their name. Every time they got 15 positive points, they could change their avatar to whatever they wanted. It was a GREAT motivator (and free for me!). If there was red next to their name (as in WAY too many negatives) they did not get recess that day. That was also a great motivator for my kids to keep those positive points going.

I know there are also several pinterest boards where teachers have made up different rewards and consequences for earning positives and negatives. If you type in "Class Dojo" in the search box, I'm sure you will see plenty of boards.

I hope that wasn't too confusing because it really is worth your time to check out! My entire team decided this is the behavior management system we want to use next year. If you want to look at it, click on the avatar below and it will take you to their website!

3 comments:

Hi Katy - Kalen from ClassDojo here. Just wanted to shoot you a quick note to say thank you for taking the time to write about us - our entire team here truly appreciates your support :)

If there's ever anything we can do for you, please don't hesitate to reach out! We would love to chat more - and maybe even feature you on our upcoming teacher spotlight blog - let me know if you're interested: kalen@classdojo.com!

This is a wonderful website to manage my kids behavior! I higly suggest making an account for your classroom if you are a teacher. you can send parents messages about your students. It is very helpful to warn my students that they need to calm down.